It is not uncommon for Retail companies to go back and forth between the merits of cost and retail method of accounting (but not to make frequent changes to their accounting methods….). The question of which is the “best” method continues to be a topic of debate.

The discipline of merchandise planning is often not understood by many organizations. What is the ROI that can be expected from a planning organization? In order to answer this effectively you must understand what the practice of merchandise planning is and how it is different from financial planning.